Constance Gordon
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Constance Gordon is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at San Francisco State University. She is also faculty in SF State’s Climate HQ, a campus-wide hub that supports the Climate Change Certificate Program and the Climate Justice Leaders Initiative.
Broadly, Gordon’s research addresses the rhetoric and critical organizing practices of place-based food and ecological justice movements as they generate intersectional political critique, challenge dispossession, facilitate mutual aid, and communicate solidarity across geographies. This work draws from critical/cultural approaches to environmental, rhetorical, and organizational communication, as well as cultural studies, geography, ethnic studies, urban political ecology, critical environmental justice, and food systems research. Her solo and collaborative work has been published in venues like Environmental Communication, Cultural Studies, Quarterly Journal of Speech, Journal of Applied Communication Research, and Frontiers in Communication, as well as numerous chapters in edited volumes and collections. She is a co-author of the textbook Rhetorical Histories of Social Movements in the U.S. (Cognella, 2025). Similarly, as a teacher, Gordon's courses often emphasize non-dominant accounts of disciplinary histories and the theory-building, narrative strategies, and artistic praxis of various social change efforts.
Gordon has training across the humanities and social sciences, with a Ph.D. and M.A. in Communication (Rhetoric & Culture) from the University of Colorado Boulder where she also received Graduate Certificates in Development Studies (Department of Geography) and Ethnic Studies (Department of Ethnic Studies). She received her B.A. in International Relations from San Francisco State University. At SF State, Gordon is active in the California Faculty Association (CFA) as an Executive Board member and LCA College Rep. She holds other roles as well, such as Art Director of the academic journal Cultural Studies and Editorial Board member of Environmental Communication.